This invention relates to toilet seats in general, and more particularly, relates to a low maintenance hygienic toilet seat assembly that dispenses an anti-microbial plastic sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,212 issued to Hefty et al. (“Hefty et al.”) briefly discusses the state of the art of applying hygienic covers to toilet seats. Heftly et al. describes a variety of earlier arrangements covered by German patents and relates to an arrangement for dispensing from a supply reel a tubular plastic feed on one end of a toilet seat to be pulled the length of the toilet seat and then wound up on a take-up reel on the other end.
The arrangement of Hefty et al. requires that one end of the horseshoe spaced toilet seat be free, or in effect, floating, in order for the tubular plastic material being dispensed to be fed onto and surround the seat itself. The necessity for surrounding the seat is dictated by the need to insure that the plastic covering will not fall off the top of the seat, a problem generally associated with previous devices as described by the patentees.
Several drawbacks are associated with the device described in the above referenced patent. The presence of a free end of the horseshoe shaped seat can interfere with the movement of the tubular plastic material from the supply reel if the free end is inadvertently or intentionally pulled away from the top of the commode. Other potential problems can be caused by twisting of the plastic on the seat resulting in jamming of the device, or tearing of the plastic which can result in a total failure of operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,618 to Boker (“Boker”) attempted to solve some of the problems of the prior art, but at the same time created new ones. The toilet seats discussed in these patents are typically used in publicly accessible restrooms. These restrooms require daily or even more frequent cleaning by cleaning personnel. Boker does not provide for ease of cleaning since the seat of Boker and the sleeve dispensing assembly rest directly on the toilet seat and permit for unwanted fecal matter and other excrement to build up on the assembly of Boker. It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art.
The prior art also has problems in that it has been proposed that the amount of film on a take up roll is determined through means that determine only one sleeve usage distance. However, users manually pull out fresh sleeve which creates a undesirable sleeve build up that interferes with the proper functioning of the unit since the unit is only calibrated to dispense a predetermined amount of sleeve per usage.
Another problem in the art is that units have single or multiple wires that stick out of the unit. These wires are damaged by careless users who rip them out or fray them.
The prior art also features brackets that mount the seat to the toilet bowl. There is no way to clean under these mounting brackets without removing the mounting bolts. Consequently, repair and maintenance of these prior art seats is costly and time consuming.
Another problem in the art relates to the wind up of used sleeve on a take up roll. The problem in the art is that winding up of used sleeve on a take up roll is not perfectly tight and smooth. As a result, the take up roll sleeve doubles up in the art and becomes full prematurely.
An additional problem in the art relates to the inability to clean the area between a lower housing and a seat ring.
Another problem in the art relates to sleeve twisting. The problem is that new clean sleeve twists when it goes around a seat ring. Consequently, the bottom part of the originally clean sleeve portion drags against the dirty toilet bowl or wet interior surface of the unit, and then becomes the top part of the sleeve. Users unwittingly then sit on what they thought was fresh clean sleeve. In reality, the sleeve is contaminated with urine and fecal material. Hence, the seating surface of the new sleeve is contaminated with waste on many occasions.
All of the prior art systems have a significant drawback in that they do not provide for a toilet seat that provides for economical daily maintenance, cleaning and repair. It is an object of the invention to solve this and other problems in the art.